Friday, January 21, 2011

just arrived in hawaii to some serious swell. the eddie akiau was on hold til 11 o clock but called off because it was a bit inconsistent. the swell should wash away all the sand out of pipe and it should be pumping for the wqs which starts in 3 days. shoots

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

I've just got back in the surf over the last few days after a having a sore back and not being able surf or work for 2 weeks. I even spent the better part of 48 hours flat on my back. It was really nice to get back in the water.

The above shots are by Chris Hewgill. This is my first surf since hurting my back and I'm riding a 5'7" Verve fish with a slightly different rocker and bottom contours than normal, which feels a little more at home in the pocket and on more powerful waves.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Dad's 60 now and pretty much retired. Every morning he gets up early, hops in the Van and drives down the beach. If there's waves he doesn't get back home till around 11. In the spaces between you might find him pottering around down the shed and or working on one of his many unfinished projects. Sometimes I get annoyed when it works out he's surfing way more than me.

Friday, January 7, 2011

Here's a couple of pics I snapped at the beginning stages through the shaping process of a Kneeboard for my friend Chris. I've had to make a couple of custom kneeboards this year which has thrown me outside my comfort zone (because I don't ride kneeboards and hence don't have that inherent understanding I have for the boards I ride regularly). But I found the process an interesting one nonetheless, and rewarding.

The Shaping process requires a lot of thinking... particularly if your shaping a custom board for a specific purpose, and it's a style of board you don't often make. I thought I'd share some of the thought processes which went into the kneeboard.

The top left pic shows Chris's current kneeboard (my father shaped it for him a few years back) but he wanted a bit more length and volume for paddle power and was intending to ride it when the waves got a little bigger and more hollow. The first step was to template his original board which I used to create his new outline. I didn't want to deviate too far from the board he had been riding and was happy with.

Next I roughed the rocker in... taking into account the extra length and the more powerful waves Chris will be riding. I'm actually hampered a little with the blank I'm using but get the maximum nose rocker the blank will allow. Next step the bottom contours go in - I decide to keep them similar to his original board. Single concave the whole way with a defined chine in the front third of the board. Hopefully this will help allow an easy transition from old board to new. Then flip the board over and make sure my centre, 12" and 24" points are the correct thickness (same as original board), roll the deck, and then its time to turn the rails.

If I'm going to get held up time-wise, more often than not its on the rails. And it happenned again with Chris's board. It's important to get the rails right... both the volume and shape, it relates to how your board is going to feel through turns, how much force you will need to apply, whether it's releasing, or to what degree its holding the water (suction). Chris wanted more volume through his rail, but I didn't want it to feel too 'clunky'. So I endeavored to get a rail with more shoulder on it than his last board (more volume) but with a similar apex shape (to retain a measure of sensitivity). Dad has a heap of rail templates in has Shaping Bay so I borrowed a few to use as reference points between the old and new rail and help maintain accuracy.

All up I spent a day and half templating and shaping Chris's Kneeboard.

Sunday, January 2, 2011

I'm driving down to South Oz for a couple of weeks of desert barrels and to get me dose of flies for the year. I just got back from Hawaii a couple of weeks ago and am heading off again on the 20th. I love Hawaii and the variety of boards the waves demand you ride over there. This is my current Hawaiian quiver.